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India T20 World Cup Squad Analysis: Strengths & Weaknesses | Analysis of India T20 World Cup squad: Looking at key strengths and weaknesses

The ICC T20 World Cup will start from 17 October 2021 in the UAE and Oman. The Final will be played on 14 November. India has announced their 15-man squad for the World T20 with three reserve players, and they are expected to feature at the business end of the tournament.

There are many surprise inclusions as well as exclusions in the squad. Players like Yuzvendra Chahal, Shikhar Dhawan, Kuldeep Yadav and Shreyas Iyer, who were surely expected to be included in the squad, have been dropped. At the same time, the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel and Varun Charkravarthy have been included.

Iyer has been included in the reserve players but has been dropped from the main squad.

Ashwin’s inclusion is not as surprising as the omission of Yuzvendra Chahal who has been India’s leading spinner prior to the World T20. Ishan Kishan has been preferred over Sanju Samson for the back-up wicket keeping option. Mohammad Siraj failed to find a place in the World Cup squad as well while Mohammed Shami has been included as the third pacer.

Let’s talk about India’s squad in more detail and see how strong this squad looks on paper and what can be the points of concern, too.

India T20 World Cup squad

Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami.

Reserve Players: Shreyas Iyer, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar.

The Batting Department

Let’s talk about India’s batting unit. The Indian batting unit for the World T20 is very strong. India’s probable top 7 will consist of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul as the openers with Virat Kohli batting at number 3. Suryakumar Yadav will bat at 4 with Rishabh Pant at 5 followed by Hardik Pandya at 6 and Ravindra Jadeja at 7.

All are proven match-winners and can win games from any situation on their day. The batting unit is very flexible as players like Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja can be used as floaters too according to the match situation. Ishan Kishan, who is the second wicket-keeper, can be used as both an opener or as a middle-order batsman.

All the batsmen are good players of spin as well as pace bowling. Each can attack from the first ball. The middle-order of Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, and Hardik Pandya will ensure that the run-rate doesn’t drop in the middle-overs, an area of concern for India in T20Is for a while.

Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya will be the finishers in the squad and both have already shown how destructive they can be with the bat.

Overall, the Indian batting unit for the World T20 is a perfect batting line-up for T20 cricket and can chase down any total or can set big targets while batting first.

The Bowling

The Indian bowling unit for the World T20 will consist of Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Varun Chakravarthy and Axar Patel. Hardik Pandya will bowl as well.

Death Bowling: Concern for India

Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Mohammed Shami will be the pace bowlers with Hardik Pandya assisting them. This is a bit concerning as Bhuvneshwar Kumar hasn’t been the same what he used to be a few years back and Mohammad Shami is yet to prove himself as a T20I bowler.

Shami’s Performance in T20 Cricket:

You can see that Shami has an economy of 8.90 in T20Is since 2019, although the sample size is very small as he has played only 5 T20Is. However, his economy in the IPL since 2019 after 36 innings is 8.53, which is a little high.

Shami’s Performance in Death Overs (15-20):

The main concern is his death bowling. His economy in the 5 T20Is he has played since 2019 is 10.33 during overs 15-20. Shami’s death bowling in the IPL since 2019 is 10.11 in 32 innings – 499 runs in 49.2 overs to be exact.

Bhuvneshwar’s Performance in T20 Cricket:

Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s economy in T20Is since 2019 is 7.24. He has played 17 matches during that time. His IPL economy during that phase is 7.95 after 24 games. Bhuvneshwar’s strength is wickets with the new ball as he has the ability to swing it both ways.

Bhuvneshwar in Death Overs (15-20):

His death bowling numbers are not that encouraging as well. He has an economy of 9.9 during overs 15-20 after 14 T20Is. Bhuvneshwar’s IPL economy during the death overs is 10.36.

So, apart from Jasprit Bumrah, India’s death bowling may cause them a few problems. India could have picked someone like Mohammad Siraj who was excellent in IPL 2021, conceding runs at an economy of 8.78 during overs 15-20 in 7 matches, instead of Mohammad Shami.

Siraj is a wicket-taker with the new ball as well and is in excellent form currently.

India are at least one pacer short in their squad. Although they have the likes of Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur in the reserves, the death bowling apart from Bumrah remains a concern and Bhuvneshwar and Shami will have to do well in the death overs.

Spinners

Ravichandran Ashwin was recalled in the T20I setup for a very long break. He will be India’s lead spinner with Ravindra Jadeja and Rahul Chahar. His selection was a much-needed one as India lacked a good off-spinner in the shortest format for quite some time now.

Ravindra Jadeja will be the left-arm spinner. He keeps the runs in check and can chip in with a few wickets. He has an economy of 7.27 in the IPL since 2019 and has picked 27 wickets in 36 games. Plus, he can hit a long ball.

Rahul Chahar will be the leg-spinner. He is one of those fast leg-spinners. Chahar has played 5 T20Is and has picked 7 wickets at an economy of 7.61. He has 47 wickets to his name in 40 IPL matches at an economy of 7.33. Chahar has performed well in the last couple of seasons in the IPL.

Axar Patel and Varun Chakravarthy are the other options in the spin department. Varun Chakravarthy can be a good option as he can bowl in the power play as well. He has done well in the IPL as well.

Axar Patel will get the chance only when Jadeja is dropped or injured which looks very unlikely. India could have picked one more pacer, someone like Mohammad Siraj or T Natarajan.

Chahal’s omission came as a surprise for everyone as he was India’s lead spinner for some time now. However, his performance in the last 2-3 years has been poor and that went against him.

Indian Bowlers in T20Is since 2019:

Since 2019, Chahal has played 22 T20Is and has picked 19 wickets at an economy of 8.94 and is averaging 40.47. He picked only 6 wickets in 10 T20 games (IPL+Domestic) in 2021.

Chahal is an experienced campaigner and a proven-match winner. India could have picked him instead of someone like Axar Patel as Jadeja is already there. Also, Rahul Chahar is still inexperienced in international cricket.

Apart from that, India’s spin department looks strong with all kinds of varieties; they have an off-spinner, a left-arm orthodox, a leg-spinner and a mystery spinner as well in Varun Chakravarthy. Spinners will be very important as the pitches in the UAE may assist the spinners, as the pitches will get tired as the tournament progresses.

Overall, the Indian squad for the ICC World T20 2021 is looking balanced. Their batting unit is one of the best in the whole tournament while bowling can cause a few problems and could’ve been better. India are one of the top contenders for the title and it will be very exciting to see these 15 men in action on the cricket field.

Written by Robin Rounder. Follow Robin on Twitter today.